Via TheFutonCritic’s twitter feed, Defying Gravity will now air on Fridays in Canada. The ratings on Sunday on ABC have been realllly bad. It started out bad, only to get worse.
Some have speculated that it will move to Fridays in the US too, and that’s a possibility although everything, including Ugly Betty and Supernanny reruns on ABC’s Friday lineup has outperformed Defying Gravity on Sunday.
Saturday seem the more logical dumping ground, unfortunately with college football coming back soon, there wouldn’t be room there to air all the remaining episodes on Saturday.
As of ABC’s most recent schedule, Defying Gravity was still on the Sunday lineup through 9/13. It will be interesting to see what ABC does…
This is actually quite a good show, shame to hear it’s not doing too well.
I agree. I look forward to watching it develop, and it would be sad to find it cut or unfinished.
I doubt that ABC will do anything with it. Ratings are bad across the chart for the network, so one hour is not really going to make the difference at this point.
That’s a bummer. I have heard good things about this show and I wanted to check it out…but now I’m afraid I’ll get into it and they’ll pull it!
That show will be pulled out, they have like 8 episodes to air and the first four are already bad and with the fall season coming soon, I expect it to be pulled out and re-appear probably on Christmas season
typical ABC. They trash all their good shows by moving them around and preempting them for months on end, then wonder why the audience disappears, ie, Commander in Chief w/ Geena Davis, Men in Trees, Samantha Who, ….
I no longer invest any of my time with that network and new shows, they dont care about the audience
Steve,how can it be typical if ABC hasn’t moved Defying Gravity yet? Besides, it already has lost its audience (not that it ever had a big audience!), but it was down to 2.66 million viewers and sub 1.0 rating with adults 18-49.
If Defying Gravity will be pulled it is very reasonable anyway with the losing streak it has. It is a different case with Commander in Chief, Samantha Who? and Men in Trees they started good but lost momentum because of scheduling problems unlike Defying Gravity which is already started bad.
Defying Gravity got really boring, very fast, for me. I’m generally very receptive to sci-fi shows, but I couldn’t make it through the last episode. It kinda reminded me of Virtuality, but less trippy with less interesting characters.
I actually thought the final two Merlin episodes were fairly decent, I’m kinda surprised how poorly that is doing with the Harry Potter craze. Poor timing to feed off it?
ABC is only paying a licensing fee to air this. I heard CTV and FOX Studios covered all the production costs. Considering the ratings are probably bad in Canada too, I doubt CTV will order a 2nd season.
There was no promo for the next episode after Sunday’s episode. I, too, suspect that the show is not long for this world on ABC.
BBC was a co-producer as well, it’s a shame because there’s obviously an arc developing with regard to the ‘hidden’ container.
As to Commander in Chief being good errrr……. that must have been the episode that wasn’t written!!
What I meant with Commander in Chief being “good” is “good in ratings”. It did start with very strong ratings
Repeat airings of Desperate Housewives or Brothers & Sisters perform worse the Defying Gravity. ABC has no incentive to make a change at this point with just a few episodes remaining to air.
Defying gravity is a great show. Hopefully the international co-operation will help keep it on air. Maybe it’s a bit too mainstream for a broadcast network, or maybe just ABC – could have been a good fit alongside Dollhouse on Fox when it returns
The show is too ‘mainstream’ for a broadcast network? Might be the first time I’ve ever seen that argument!
ABC promoted it heavily and gave it a good timeslot. People just weren’t interested. I’ll keep watching as long as it’s on, though.
^How could something be “too mainstream” for broadcast? Isn’t that where mainstream shows (American Idol) thrive, while niche shows (Dollhouse) struggle? If a show is “too niche” for broadcast, people talk about how it would do better as a cable show. Where do shows that are “too mainstream” for broadcast go?
It’s actually a pretty good show. Maybe ABC should have billed it as SyFy instead of Sci-Fi, then it might have caught on.
I like it but its too much of a drama for a sci-fi show. there isn’t enough suspense or action to make it a hit.
Why would ABC expect this series to do well?
Have they promoted it? NOPE
Did they air it in a timeslot that would attract viewers? Yeah..lots of people watch TV at 10:00 PM on a Sunday…
Hmmm…it looks like this series was destined to be cancelled before it even aired.
Frankly, I’m pretty frustrated because I like the show. Seriously though, 10:00 P.M. on a Sunday?!?!? If I didn’t have DVR then I wouldn’t be watching it, and if Apple hadn’t prompted me to watch it then I would have never know it existed.
Epic fail ABC, epic…
QUOTE “Have they promoted it? NOPE” END QUOTE
Your kidding, right? The only promos ABC showed for half the summer were for Defying Gravity. It failed.
Exactly, BK. How is it going to attract viewers if they don’t tell people it’s on? I never saw an advertisement for it – I saw it on my guide, hit info and thought it would be interesting. I DVR’d all the episodes and am just getting to watch them. Now I’m addicted to the show, but I’m worried because shows I like generally get canceled (Eli Stone, Pushing Daisies, Dead Like Me, Firefly, etc…) – shows that are the slightest bit different.
Oh, and I don’t think it’s too mainstream; just the opposite actually. I think it’s actually in a Sci-Fi niche that main network viewers typically aren’t interested in. It would be paired nicely with Dollhouse, although a Friday time slot may actually be worse than the Sunday night it’s currently on.
All in all, I hope they give it a chance and play it. It’s not costing ABC anything to produce – just a licensing fee.
I saw advertisments for it and I don’t even get ABC…how is it that people who actually watch the network never saw any ads?
Airing promos exclusively on the network limits the potential audience for that show.
You can tell the level of commitment for shows by the off-network promotion–billboards, bus signs, etc.
I think this is one reason the cable networks have been successful. I live in NYC and from what I can tell marketing of cable shows outranks networks 2-1. I always see promos for True Blood, Hung, Hawthorn, all of the USA shows, The Tudors, etc.
For fall, I now see promos for The Good Wife the most, but also for NCIS: LA, Melrose Place, the Vampire Diaries and Fringe.
I don’t think I’ve seen one promo from NBC or ABC, which almost makes it seem as if they don’t care to compete.
Now, how many promos over the summer did I see for Merlin, Mental, The Listener, Defying Gravity, etc?
Zero.
Once again another show that I like on the way out. I am really at the point of giving up on even watching new dramas. Seems like all of this mindless reality crap and talent contests are what the networks want to program. It is easier to to just let the computer accumulate shows until it looks like they will succeed.
Have to hoot over Schmoker’s suggestion to call it SyFy instead of SciFi. That’s what’s so great about this show — it’s different, and fun. Doesn’t anybody get the title? It’s about not taking itself too seriously — like Zoe’s mom’s Tarot, no gimmic, but so zany! (Not to mention the actress playing the mom was perfect, a la LeAnn Rimes in space.) Anyway, I REALLY like watching DG and hope ABC lets it be. Word is getting around!
Actually I watch a reasonable amount of network and cable scripted broadcasting and the only reason I knew Defying Gravity was on was thru my own research. I happened to see an internet article on TV.com the week before it aired.
It has been a little slow to begin with but what would one expect with the large cast and the story setup. Who knows where the story is going from this point on. My only fear was that it was going to be a Harper’s Island in space.
By the way, it’s not to mainstream, let’s face it, it is too cerebral for the education level of the average American viewer. Not enough blowing things up, action packed chases, or deaths for for the average tastes.
it is too cerebral for the education level of the average American viewer.
Aaaand, out comes my favorite excuse ever! Honestly, I’m surprised it took so long.
if i were to hear DEFYING GRAVITY ONLY ON A-B-C……i would have shot myself dont say yhey did not promote this crap show
I guess it is too cerebral for the average Canadian viewers too (see headline) , and if that’s the argument I suspect it will be a world-wide phenomenon.
Defying Gravity in Canada made the Top 30, coming in at 30 last week. That sounds good until you realize that its total viewership was about a third that of the top-ranked show of the week, CSI, which had 1.3 million. Still, one–third is a better fraction than in the U.S., where DG’s total viewership is only about one-fifth that of top-ranked America’s Got Talent’s 11+ million.
It appears the mystery force that was making cast members act strange was not enough to get or hold an audience. ABC does not call it Scifi in the program guide it is a DRAMA. I have kept episode 2 on one of my DVRs to watch when I need help getting to sleep and it is better than Ambien. The last couple of episodes have been better but must not be enough. The attention span of most folks is about two minites before the remote starts changing channels. I actually watch shows after recording them (except when they put me to sleep) so folks that change channels all the time drive me crazy but I must be the exception to everyone else. Most folks do not have five DVRs or ten tuners to catch what they want to watch so I guess I do not need to hunt shows on the moment they are shown.
Sadly for me Science Fiction or for that matter any show that is the least bit different can not get an audience large enough to be produced or to stay on the schedule. Two minites is not long enough to establish a plot line or to get to know characters, but probably all the time a show gets from the vast majority of viewers.
I really like Defying Gravity. Syfy should buy it.
jp
its a very good show… it is a bit too talkie at times and the pacing is a bit slow, but it is a very intriguing story and is well acted. I never heard of it and then I saw it was free on itunes. i downloaded it expecting to dump it right away. I gave it a shot and got hooked. I didnt even know the channel it was on, I had to use my tivo guide the find it and record it. That tells me it was not promoted well by usual means. I think the show should have aired during the week or on cable or even better on both! DG would do well on syfy or USA or even TNT. I would have the writers pace it better, but its a really good show.
I found this show basically ridiculous and unwatchable. I like my share of sci-fi, but this thing is garbage. No surprise to me that the ratings are so bad.
Good riddance I say.
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“By the way, it’s not to mainstream, let’s face it, it is too cerebral for the education level of the average American viewer.”
I hate, hate, hate this escuse.
I mean how arrogant is this. Basically assuming “well everyone’s too stupid to like what I like.” So that one can have a sneering sense of superiority to go along with their complaining.
There are plenty of smart shows that do well out there. Shows that are smarter than this crap fest, I can tell you that much.
Absolute crap.
Would like to see how it fails. Would be fun to watch it getting pulled and forgotten then comeback as an epic failure among the cult scene.
Let time tell if I am right.
Also it is an insult to all science fiction out there and the intelligence of an average American TV viewer – however low you think it might be.
I LIKE this show — I hope they don’t pull it — and Friday is actually a better day for me !!
The show had a very good potential, it would have been amazingly successful if they had stuck to the scifi issues and dealt with the mysterious and almost otherworldly aspects. Too much personal entanglements of the crew diluted the awe-inspiring moments too much and rendered them ineffectual.
I am enjoying the production. Really getting into the problems of the characters. The mystery of what lies on Venus has grabbed me. Why are they not being told what the mission is REALLY about? The writing is excellent. I like the flashbacks that coincide with events happening on the ship. This is the thinking person’s Sci-Fi. Sunday can be a problem however. We are usually needing mindless relaxation before the start of the week so this would probably be better on some other slow night.
I really enjoy this show and I hope ABC keeps it. Most tv shows now adays are the same crap different channel but ABC has put out two good ones this year IMO. Castle and Defying Gravity. I hope to see a lot more of this show.
I guest the only hope for this show is the BBC and German TV market. I know I am going to make sure I am watching live on the BBC, or some sought late revival of the show miracles do happen, or may be ABC will be kind and just order a new series for no good reason at all, like fox did for Dollhouse, no one on this site saw that one coming and that show is no where as good a defying gravity.
Love the show.
tuesday or wednesday would be better, even thursday as an option to those lousy comedies on nbc